The “evil weevil” is gaining serious ground in the park’s bromeliads.

It has since munched its way through many Florida counties and is alive and doing serious damage to bromeliads throughout Florida.
Guest Column/Dorothy L. Harris, Park Services Specialist
Highlands Hammock State Park/May 2004

Weevil me alone!
If you have a long-standing relationship with Highlands Hammock State Park, you might have already noticed the devastation. There you are, walking down your favorite nature trail, when suddenly you see it! Perhaps at first it didn’t seem alarming, but as you walked on, there was more and more. Piles of minty-green leaves, seemingly cast aside by some unknown creature, left scattered like crumbs from a picnic.
Perhaps you even inquired closer, picking up a cluster of tough leaves in your hand, only to drop them in disgust when the oozing brown goo dripped onto your fingers. It’s true I’m afraid, that the “evil weevil” is gaining serious ground in the park’s bromeliads.

Metamasius callizona or the Mexican bromeliad weevil has been residing in the park for nearly five years without being very obvious to the casual observer. This exotic, introduced insect hails from Mexico, gaining entry to Florida via nursery plant imports in 1989. Once identified, it was found in both residential and natural areas of central and northern Broward County.

It has since munched its way through many Florida counties and is alive and doing serious damage to bromeliads throughout Florida. Officially identified at Highlands Hammock State Park in 1999, it did not seem to be causing the devastation here as it did in many South Florida counties.
That time of grace is over however, and a stroll down any of the park’s nature trails will afford you a glimpse of the quiet, insidious destruction. Piles of bromeliad leaf litter-officially called “fall out”, are seen throughout the park. Every day huge Tillandsia utriculatas, or Giant Airplants, are seen lying splayed out on the ground. These and the Tillandsia fasciculata or Cardinal Airplants, both endangered species now, are taking a real beating.

Gather a cluster of downed leaves in your hand, if you dare, and examine up close. You will easily see the chewed appearance at the base of the plant’s leaf axils, along with a cylindrical brown straw-like cocoon hidden deep within. That straw-like material is the bromeliad itself, namely the center portions, chewed and shredded by the grub-like larvae of this invasive pest. You may even see this tiny fat white worm, and the clear, jelly-like goo that the plant secretes during this deadly attack.

It is not unusual to see several cocoons, grubs and even adult weevils within these cocoons.

Metamasius callizona
Once the adults complete their metamorphosis, they fly off and start the whole process over again. Eggs are laid among the leaf axils of the larger bromeliads. Then larvae hatch out and begin their tunneling activity into the center of the airplant. As they feed and construct their cocoons, they basically chew the airplant into pieces, causing it to fall and scatter along the forest floor.

This huge population boom for the “evil weevil” makes a precarious time for our larger bromeliads. Their future is uncertain, but efforts are being made to combat their loss. Seeds have been collected and sent to a certified grower, and the Florida Park Service continues to support efforts by the University of Florida to discover a biological control before its too late. After all, this “Real Florida” belongs to all of us, and we want to see it survive in spite of the “evil weevil” and the many other introduced threats to our Florida ecosystems.

For more information on Metamasius callizona, log onto http://SaveBromeliads.ifas.ufl.edu
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